Additional community development activities (loans, investments or services that support digital access, health care, small business operations and food supplies) will receive consideration for CRA credit during the pandemic.

As New Jersey loan broker Brian Benjamin put it, “Most lenders I see now want a paystub within 30 days of closing and a verbal VOE [verification of employment] within five days of closing.”

The new “flexibilities” cover both originations and appraisals. On the origination front, Fannie and Freddie will reduce the acceptable age of income documentation on most loans to 60 days from 120...

Some good news: The top five producers of jumbo mortgages all continue to originate the loans, despite the market turmoil caused by the coronavirus...

Those top GSE volume states also accounted for $1.776 trillion of GSE single-family loans outstanding at the end of last year, 37.4% of the total market.

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions laid off roughly 70% of its 275 employees as non-QM originations have stalled due to economic fallout caused by the coronavirus.

One industry representative noted: “While it is still an outdated fax-based system, it is the most trustworthy in terms of verifying a mortgage applicant’s income information and prevents fraud.”

While top nonbanks increased their production by 9.5% from the third quarter, depository institutions grew their volume by just 1.8%.